SANER

(Mexico City)

Edgar “Saner” Flores is an urban artist, illustrator and graphic designer. Raised by his parents in Mexico City and surrounded by rich color and tradition, Saner developed an interest in drawing and Mexican muralism early on. He began expressing himself on paper and through graffiti art, later going on to earn a degree in graphic design from the Universidad Autónoma de México. His creations are influenced by Mexican custom and folklore, color, mysticism, masks and skulls. A mix of these lifelong interests and passions has led him to become the artist he is today.

Saner’s work has been featured in galleries in Mexico, the United States, London, Berlin and Barcelona. He has collaborated with Kidrobot, Vans, G-Shock, HQTR Canada, Pineda Covalin, Persigna Store, Bacardi, Adidas México, Televisa, and many others.

Watch Saner give a tour of Mexico City and talk about other muralists by MOCA:

POTES

(1977)

Dave Potes' primary aesthetic is in documentary photography, focusing on people and landscapes. In 2001, after many years of producing small, limited edition zines, David, his brother Ray Potes and Stefan Simikich began publishing a quarterly black and white photography magazine called Hamburger Eyes.

Alongside his work as a commercial, editorial, and art photographer, David continues to focus his attentions on publishing limited edition zines and books. He is currently based in New York.

Watch this video about Dave Potes self-portraits by Dominick Volini:

MUNK ONE

(US)

MUNK ONE is a contemporary American Illustrator, Poster Artist, Political Cartoonist, and Fine Artist from California. He is well known for creating Artwork for major label musical acts and world renowned brands, recognized for their creativity. His fine art has gained much attention through many galleries both at home and abroad. He was previously the official Juxtapoz Art Magazine editorial Illustrator. He is also owner and Creative Director of the Invisible Industries Brand.

His artistic style may seem serious and even dark at first glance, filled with undertones of mortality, religion, or politics but his work can also be full of movement with bright, and fun colors and ideas with a sense of humor. These elements seem to coexist and mix throughout much of his work both commercially and personally. Proficient in both traditional and computer media, he is comfortable using whatever methods his projects may call for.

Working within the apparel and merchandise industries since the mid 90s, much of his knowledge and technical expertise has been gained from hands on experience. In 2006 he decided to focus on creating his own style of art while using his website as the vehicle to share this creativity with the world. During the 2008 election He created a striking portrait of the then Presidential candidate Barack Obama that was to be used for prints, stickers, t-shirts and also ran at bus stops all over the state of Pennsylvania. In 2009 Munk One was featured in Juxtapoz Art Magazine issue #96. That year he also began to work on limited edition screen printed posters and has since worked on prints for Pearl Jam, Blink 182, 311, Soundgarden, City and Colour and More.

Watch this interview:

LOGAN HICKS

Logan Hicks is a New York-based stencil artist whose work explores the dynamics of the urban environment. Originally a screenprinter, Logan's work has gained notoriety due to his ability to capture the sometimes mundane cycle of city life in a haunting, yet refined way with his hand-sprayed stencils.

Stenciling started as a substitution for screenprinting, but quickly morphed into Logan's medium of choice. A perfect union was conceived by spraypaintingstencils his subjects: the dirty and gritty nature of the spraypaint thoroughly depicted the decay of the city while the muted shine of metallic paint mirrored the faint glimmer of hope and life within it. It is this symbiotic relationship with the city that fuels his work.

With his photorealistic style, Logan draws a parallel between the cold, harsh city and a warm, vibrant organism. It is alive; a breathing creature where the ebb and flow of people washing over its sidewalks act as cells circulating through its veins. Buildings block passageways, walls block views, doors hide openings. The outside world is effectively shut out while the city creates its own reality. Confined spaces on subways, honeycomb living structures; it is a labyrinth of working systems limited only by its border, its 'skin'.

Logan uses his art to explore the microcosm in which he is a cell, just part of a whole. The nuances of city life that epitomize the urban existence are what he dwells upon.

Watch this video of Logan Hicks exploring the nautical in his latest stencil paintings:

LISEL ASHLOCK

(Northern California, US)

After graduating with a BFA from California College of the Arts in 2002, Lisel Jane Ashlock exchanged West for East, moving to Brooklyn, New York where she currently lives and works as an illustrator & designer. 

Painting on birch panel, drawing with pencil and watercolor or working digitally, each project is executed with a sensitivity and celebration of the natural world. When she's not busy on an illustration project, Lisel can be found designing, photographing, styling, hand-crafting and creative directing for Moomah the Magazine. 

Lisel has received several illustration awards and accolades and her work can be seen in various national publications, books & advertising projects. She received her MFA from School of Visual Arts in 2009.

IAN JOHNSON

(1979, Syracuse, NY, US)

Ian Johnson lives and works in San Francisco, CA. He creates portraits predominately of jazz musicians of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Johnson investigates the space between the spontaneous nature of jazz music and the physical structure of the human form.  

Johnson is also the art director of San Francisco’s Western Edition Skateboards, which allows him to explore the fundamental nature of his portraits as both a cultural and commercial product.

Watch this video by Ando Nesia:

HAJIME SORAYAMA

(1947, Japan)

Hajime Sorayama is a Japanese illustrator, known for his precisely detailed, erotic hand painted portrayals of women and feminine robots. Using brush, pencil and acrylic paint, airbrushing only finishing details, he creates memorable images in a hyper-realistic style. He is often referred to as the contemporary Vargas by those familiar with his pin-up style works, and is respected by artists and illustrators for his perfect technique.

In retrospect, Sorayama's work has been remarkably prescient. Beginning in the 1970's and evolving into the 21st century, the futuristic aura of the robotic, mythic and fantastical figures in his art have always been ahead of their time.

Watch him at his studio here:

EL MAC

(Los Angeles, US)

El Mac is an artistic historian in his own right, capturing the influence of his culture within his works of art. The influence of El Mac's Mexican and Chicano culture is written all throughout his creations. The use of both bright and dark colors gives him the ability to capture the true essence of the individual he is portraying. By incorporating additional methods such as acrylics and brush on canvas, he masterfully delves into his preferred technique of black and white photorealism to convey the human subject he is studying.

Undeniably, the subjects of his everyday life is what El Mac turns to in his art,  capturing the true essence of the individual through the candid moments he is successfully able to convey. The utilization of sepia hues along with a darker color palette gives his work a true human-like quality while also incorporating white hues to give light to certain aspects of the human face. Furthermore, precise shading by El Mac gives life to his subjects, ultimately transmitting an palpable energy through his work that is unlike no other. 

What makes El Mac's works so memorable is his ability to put a modern spin on the conventionality of the human portrait by incorporating his detailed line work. This brings an almost distorted, fragmented accompaniment to his creations, opening the doors for varying interpretation. The importance of street culture is evident as well, providing his audience with an open book as to what life must be like around El Mac. Nevertheless, whether it be through his magazine features, indoor works, illegal and legal works, or solo exhibitions, the translation of the life-like qualities of his human subjects on such a large-scale is remarkable. El Mac's purpose is simply extraordinary: painting a picture of the simple, beautiful world that is El Mac's life.

Watch this video about El Mac making a large scale mural by Rapt Studio:

CORO

(Texas, US)

Justin Coro Kaufman is a west coat based Illustrator and Fine Artist. He is the Founder and Art Director of artist collective Massive Black. Coro also makes oil paintings for self-enrichment and exhibition, and writes and draws his own comics.

Watch a video of his self portrait by The Complete Artist:

BEN TOUR

(1977, Canada)

Ben Tour channels a dark, often haunting sense of humanism in his work. His observations deftly inform his paintings, enabling him to capture the essence of a character, then distort that view any way he desires. 

Frenetic lines, swaths of color, and intimate angles all convey a sense that Tour may not only be drawing inspiration from the lives of strangers he observes, but manifesting his own personal experiences as well. The emotional content in each portrait is palpable as this perceived notion of creation and catharsis is paired well with the immediate voyeuristic allure of his characters. 

Tour has exhibited in galleries from Los Angeles to Miami, Hamburg to New York. His work has been featured in publications including BLK/MRKT One and Two, Juxtapoz, and Playboy. He has worked with clients such as BMW, Absolut, Nike and Burton Snowboards.

Watch the Stickboy "Monster Murals" project by vancouveropera: 

ALBERT REYES

(1971, Los Angeles, US)

Printmaker and video artist Albert Reyes is a soft-spoken guy who loves art. He loves art for art’s sake. His goals are simple: make a living as an artist and use his talent to make a positive impact on people’s lives. This pious, Los Angeles-based artist sounds as pure as the medium he used to launch his career. The very medium Reyes has established himself in is liquid. Whether beer, water, or saliva, Reyes can make a sidewalk portrait that lasts only as long the heat allows. 

With pencil sketches, paintings, and his creepy maze Albert depicts people, known and unknown, and their relationships. He believes art is for all and creates artworks on the pavements of California, spitting out mouthfuls of water to form the lines of these ephemeral, public drawings.

Watch Albert painting art by Giant Robot:

AKIRA BEARD

(1976, Tokyo, Japan)

Akira is an artist living and working in San Francisco, CA. When not creating in the studio, his professional time is spent between exhibiting artwork and teaching painting/drawing. He is a faculty member at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he has taught Fine Art Anatomy and Fashion Illustration. Akira has shown at a variety of venues, mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area, including pop-up shows at the Academy of Science, live painting at the West Inn’s New Year Gala and other similar forms of contemporary exhibition.

Like the art itself, his professional practice stems from his ideas, beliefs and values. Akira's paintings are like tomes for the great spiritual teachers of the past, and also cleverly link contemporary culture with beautiful skills in portraiture. His work is relevant, moving, and powerful – truly spiritual, not upholding any outrageous or inhuman experiences but rather honoring the timeless power of what is here and now.

Watch Akira's Art Opening at The Emerald Tablet: